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Saturday, August 8, 2015

New Tools

I really mean to get back to the CNC mill, but orders keep coming in and I need to fill them. Complicating mattes is that the Ryobi chop saw I use for cutting aluminum tubing and acetal rods suffered a catastrophic failure when trying to cut some aluminum rod, with teeth breaking off making the blade unstable. So I bought a new blade, with the intent of replacing it. But the hex head left hand thread bolt that clamps the arbor that holds the blade is now closer to a round head bolt. It is uncooperative, even when using channel locks. I could drill the bolt out, but getting this beast onto the drill press and staying there is enough work that it is easier to sell it on craigslist and buy a new fancier, compund version with a laser. If it doesn't sell in a few days, maybe I will drill out that bolt.

Like all simple projects such as draining a swamp, in no time at all you are up to your butt in alligators. It is enough bigger than the old one that it would not fit in that shelf, so my wife, who has excellent spatial organizational skills, decided it was time to reorganize my shop. The drill press moved; the lathe has a new home; the CNC mill and laptop are on their own table; as is the new chop saw. There are a series of machining stations now which will make it easier for ScopeRolller to expand into a mass production facility as demand increases. (Regular readers know that I have pretty bizarre dreams.).

There is a 10" bandsaw that I almost never use because it never manages to cut aluminum very well (although wood cuts very nicely), and it is also up on craigslist. Obviously, if you a local reader, I would love to sell these items to you.